Chapter Text
Izumi Iori liked being in control of his life.
He planned things down to the smallest detail, and almost always had a sort of backup plan should things go wrong. He was good at forecasting the outcome of things, and when things didn’t turn out as he expected, he was always thrown for a loop. He never liked the unknown.
The one thing that he could never have planned for, though, was presenting as an omega.
Iori had been a little over fifteen when he had his first heat. It started off as any normal day; the middle schooler went about his classes, had the bento that his mother packed for lunch, and then went home to help out with the bakery. The rest of his family were betas, and given how plain he was, Iori had always expected himself to present as a beta too.
He’d felt off sometime in the middle of afternoon classes, his body slowly but steadily growing warmer and an itch under his skin that he couldn’t get rid of. It had been fine up until he got to the bakery, and Iori had changed out of his school uniform, into a plain t-shirt. One of the bakers, an older omega lady, had come up to Iori as he was changing, shocking the boy and causing him to jump in surprise.
“Oh dear,” was all she said, not giving any sort of explanation before she disappeared out front where the Izumi parents were. Iori let out a soft groan as he pulled his apron over his head; why did it feel so hot when it was still February?
Am I coming down with a fever? was his first thought, but that didn’t explain the heat pooling in his stomach, didn’t explain the way his sense of smell seemed to have heightened, the scent of customers’ alpha pheromones permeating the air.
It was only when his mother came into the back, looking her youngest son over and almost letting out a choked sob, that Iori realised what could possibly be happening. Her words seemed to float over him, but he thought he heard “omega”, “presenting”, “first heat”, and Iori wanted the ground to swallow him up, even as his mother wrapped a jacket around him tightly.
“I’m going to bring you home, alright, honey?” she told him, her voice quivering, and Iori briefly wondered if she was more terrified than he was. She said something to his father, but Iori didn’t quite catch it, his head starting to feel hazy with something that he didn’t want to put a name to.
Mitsuki was still at school, probably at a club gathering or practicing his singing and dancing, and for that Iori was glad. He didn’t want his brother to see him like this.
The Izumis lived a few blocks away from the bakery, but even though Iori was wrapped in his mother’s jacket, he caught a few strangers staring at him; some in worry, some in pity, and some in desire. He tried to avoid their gazes, which was easy enough considering that he was using all his energy to just stand upright. It made him almost disgusted when he caught a whiff of alpha pass by him, and a soft whine nearly escaped his lips.
When they finally made it home, Iori’s mother quickly led him to the spare room, one usually reserved for guests. She cleared the bed of anything unnecessary, sitting him down and hurrying off to grab him a few blankets, clothes, and pillows. While she was gone, Iori curled in on himself, whimpering when he felt the first gush of slick run down the back of his thigh.
His mother returned quickly, setting everything down beside the bed for if Iori needed to make a nest. She also brought in water and some food, kneeling down beside Iori and gently brushing damp hair away from his forehead. “I’m so sorry that you have to go through this, Iori,” she said, and even through the haze of his heat, Iori felt bad for his mother. It wasn’t as if she’d asked for him to be an omega. “Call us if you need anything, alright?”
And with that said, she left the room, closing and locking the door behind her. Almost immediately, Iori was taking his clothes off, throwing them to the side and letting out a short-lived sigh of relief when the cool air hit his already sweaty skin. But it didn’t help to alleviate the heat in his stomach, and Iori pulled his underwear off only to find it covered in slick.
They had been taught about secondary genders in school, and although Iori had been sure he would be a beta, he’d paid enough attention to know how heats worked. He had no toys to help him, no alpha’s knot to satisfy him, so he had to settle with using his fingers.
Iori let out a gasp when the first finger slid in easily, and the second slid in without much trouble. He added a third finger, and began to work himself open, albeit awkwardly. His other hand wrapped around his throbbing member, and it took some time due to his lack of experience, but he eventually managed to find a rhythm.
It didn’t take much for his first orgasm, and Iori bit back a moan as slick gushed out of him, dirtying the sheets along with the strings of cum leaking out of his member. For a few moments Iori thought that maybe he could have a short rest before it started back up, but when he felt the coiling heat in the base of his stomach once more, he let out a keen whine. He shifted a little for easier access, flinching when his sensitive member brushed against the sheets.
He only stopped when he finally managed to exhaust himself, falling into a restless sleep before the heat came back, stronger than ever.
---
Nanase Riku never expected himself to present as an alpha.
Ever since he knew what secondary genders were, he knew that Tenn would be an alpha. That was something that Riku trusted in completely, without a sliver of doubt.
Tenn was stronger than him, kinder, smarter. He had always had an air of charisma about him, something that made people flock to him and lavish him with attention. He was easy to love, and Riku knew that better than anyone else. So even though Tenn left long before he presented, Riku knew that his twin brother was going to be an alpha. It was simply a fact.
Riku, on the other hand, never thought of himself as an alpha. His body was weaker than others, always in and out of hospitals, and he wasn't particularly smart. Most of the things that Riku knew, he learnt from Tenn. In fact, Tenn had always said that it would be better for Riku to be a beta. Betas had a duller sense of smell compared to the other genders, and with Riku's weak lungs, he didn't need a sensitive sense of smell to worsen his condition.
Apart from the fact that Riku, too, had a naturally charismatic air around him, there wasn't much that would make people think that he would be an alpha.
But then Riku turned fourteen, and at some point, had his first rut.
It had lasted only about three to four days, not nearly as bad as an omega's heat could be, but Riku's body was still weaker than most, and at times his lungs couldn't keep up. He found himself reaching for his inhaler sometimes, but the rut ended without much mishap.
The problems only surfaced when Riku had gone to the hospital for a routine check-up, something that he did once every few weeks. He knew most of the staff in the pulmonary department of the hospital, and even knew some of the patients who, like him, went to the hospital routinely for one reason or another. He'd gone with his mother as usual, greeted the staff with a bright smile, but Riku wasn't dense enough to realise that some people were already treating him differently.
Some of the omega staff tried to keep a distance from him, and although Riku could understand why, it still made him sad to know that this was happening all because he presented as an alpha. His rut had ended about a week ago, but as a newly presented alpha male, he was sure that his pheromones were all over the place. It wasn't as if he knew how to tone his scent down, either, at least not just yet. His father had mentioned it, but he'd also assured Riku that it was nothing to worry about. "It's normal," the older Nanase had told him.
His mother was a beta, so she hadn't said anything about Riku's scent, and he'd mistakenly thought that it was alright. Judging from the varied reactions he was getting, though, Riku figured that perhaps his scent was stronger than he thought it was.
The check-up had gone relatively well, Riku's lungs were in a decent condition and presenting as an alpha probably wouldn't be much of an issue. "Your body will get used to it slowly," the doctor told him, sending him and his mother off with a kind smile. The two were planning to head home immediately, but Riku spotted someone he knew down the corridor and headed towards her – another patient, around Riku's age and whom he had once shared a hospital room with.
"Riko-chan!" he called out, waving to her to get her attention.
Riko, barely a year older than Riku, turned to look at him, lips already curving into a small smile. Then her mother tugged on her arm, shaking her head at her and saying something to her that Riku couldn't quite hear. But he didn't need to, because suddenly Riko was looking at him defeatedly, her smile replaced with a resigned frown, and then she left with her mother.
Riku didn't need to ask to know why. After all, Riko was an omega, and he understood that her parents were very protective of their only child. It still felt bad to know that he'd lost a friend just like that; because of something that he had no control over.
When he got home that day, Riku began to research on alphas. Maybe he wasn't able to choose what he presented as, but he'd be damned if he let being an alpha rule his life.
Riku was a lot of things, and stubborn was one of them.
---
One of the first things they did after settling into the dorms was to find out about each other's secondary genders. It was common for idols to use suppressants and scent neutralisers, because omegas were still ostracised to an extent, and it was generally safer for an unbonded omega to conceal their nature.
But Tsumugi had assured them that the agency had no prejudice against omegas, seeing as how Banri himself was an omega, and it would be better if everyone at least knew each other's genders. At least that way, they would be able to watch out for each other, and schedules could be planned around heats and ruts.
So the newly formed IDOLiSH7 sat in the living room, everyone staring blankly at each other, no one knowing whether they should speak up first. Tsumugi had left them alone to talk; after all, the agency had their basic medical information, secondary genders included.
"Oi leader, why don't you start?" Mitsuki suggested, worriedly glancing at Iori. The younger Izumi had been jittery for a while now, probably ever since the entire ordeal with the auditions. He knew how much Iori disliked being an omega, and he probably didn't want the others to find out this quickly. But Mitsuki also understood that they should all know at least this much about each other, if they were going to be a group from now on.
Yamato glanced at Mitsuki, shrugging and shifting in his seat. "Beta."
"Same as me, huh," Mitsuki mused aloud.
"I'm an alpha," Tamaki chimed in, a cup of pudding in one hand and a spoon in the other.
"Me too!" Nagi said, turning to hi-five Tamaki. The youngest raised a brow but did it anyway.
Sougo reached up to his neck, peeling something off, and a sweet smell slowly wafted through the living room. "I guess I won't be needing these if it's just you guys here," he chuckled, disposing of the scent neutralising patch.
That was enough of an answer for everyone, and Tamaki's eyes widened as he took in the scent. "Souchan, you smell like King Pudding," he said, almost in awe, oblivious to how Sougo seemed to be taken aback. It was common knowledge that fated alpha-omega pairs often smelled like something that the other liked, and Sougo wasn't about to admit that he loved the spicy scent of tabasco.
Five pairs of eyes looked between Iori and Riku simultaneously.
Iori didn't need Riku to say it; he already knew that the singer was an alpha, as shocking as it had been at first. Riku's poorly masked scent was more than enough proof of his gender. The more shocking thing was that Riku smelled of dark chocolate, something that Iori admittedly liked despite having more of a sweet tooth. Over the years of helping out at the bakery, Iori had grown to love dark chocolate just as much as other pastries.
And Riku smelled of dark chocolate.
But dark chocolate was a common thing, nothing nearly as specific as King Pudding. Iori eyed his two groupmates, noticed how Sougo seemed a little nervous, and figured that Sougo had the same suspicions as he did. Fated pairs, huh...
Iori wasn't one to believe in fate or destiny. He'd rather believe in a well-thought-out plan, although things didn't always go the way he expected them to. But Riku was looking at him now, and although Iori had made sure to cover himself in scent neutralising spray, he couldn't help but feel that Riku could see right through him; maybe he smelled like something that the alpha liked, too?
Iori was snapped out of his thoughts by Mitsuki waving in his face. "Iori, do you not want to say it?" his older brother asked, clearly concerned, and Iori shook his head quickly in response. Mitsuki had a way of blaming himself, Iori didn't know what for, but he hated seeing his brother upset. Back when Iori had presented as an omega, Mitsuki had apologised to him so many times, it made the younger's ears hurt.
"Same as Ousaka-san, I'm an omega," Iori said, not missing how Riku's face went from curious to excited in a matter of seconds. Iori sighed inwardly – he'd had bad encounters with alphas before, and although everyone seemed nice enough for now, that could easily change if they smelled an omega in heat.
Everyone turned to Riku, and the redhead smiled sheepishly. "An alpha," he replied easily, earning a few surprised looks from everyone. Iori frowned at this; was Riku's scent not a dead giveaway?
Or is my nose more sensitive to Nanase-san's scent specifically?
Shaking the thought off, Iori tuned himself back to the others' voices, most of them talking over each other about how it was surprising that Riku was an alpha, that Iori was an omega, that Yamato was a beta. It was all a mess, and Iori sighed as he realised that this was going to be his life from now on.
But then Riku turned to look at Iori amidst the chatter, beaming at the younger, and Iori thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
For now, at least.